Besides trying to make it more convenient to use Wallet, Google also is hoping to improve the nearly 4-year-old service. Toward that end, Google Inc. is buying some mobile payment technology and patents from Softcard, a 5-year-old venture owned by the wireless carriers. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Although Google and the wireless carriers got a head start with their digital wallets, the concept hadn't gained much traction until Apple Pay debuted last fall.

The service has become more popular than Apple expected, according to a recent presentation by CEO Tim Cook.

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Just three months after Apple Pay's November debut, Cook said the service accounted for two out of every three dollars spent across the three major U.S. card networks, when no card was used. About 2,000 banks and credit unions have agreed to offer Apple Pay to its customers.

Apple hasn't said how many merchants are set up to handle its mobile payment services.

If Apple builds on that early momentum, the Cupertino, California, company could become the leader in what is expected to be a booming market.

Nearly 16 million U.S. consumers spent about $3.5 billion on tap-and-pay services last year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Apple Pay (pictured at its launch with Tim Cook)) has been a hug success.

APPLE PAY

Apple Pay launched earlier this year and lets people with an iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pay for goods by tapping their handsets on NFC readers.

It works by holding the phone up to a card reader and pressing a finger on the TouchID button.

This confirms the person's identity, and the payment is made as if the user had presented and signed their card.

All details are encrypted and the system stores payment information securely.

If an iPhone is lost, users can suspend all payments via the Find my iPhone service.

By 2018, eMarketer predicts those figures will rise to 57 million U.S. consumers spending about $118 billion.

Companies that provide mobile wallets make money by collecting processing fees from merchants and banks.

Samsung Electronics, another major smartphone maker, may be ready to join the fray after buying a mobile payment startup called LoopPay.

That deal, announced last week, fueled speculation that Samsung will include a digital wallet on its next phone.

Google traditionally has had a prickly relationship with the carriers, largely because it doesn't believe enough has been done to upgrade wireless networks and make them cheaper so more people can spend more time online.

Media reports say Google is considering selling its own wireless plans to consumers.

LoopPay (left) calls itself a 'wallet solution' that lets customers pay with their phones and tablets 'virtually everywhere'. It consists of an app and a device, which is either a fob or a phone case. If the firms do partner up, LoopPay's technology could be built into Samsung phones (Galaxy S5 pictured right), tablets and watches

The pre-installation of the Wallet app is similar to what Google already does with its search engine, Gmail and YouTube on millions of other phones running on Android — an operating system that Google has been giving away for years to ensure people keep using its products on mobile devices. Google profits from the traffic by showing ads.